Maharashtra ATS has weakened India's case on Samjhauta blast: BJP

Published: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 18:07 [IST]

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New Delhi, Nov 19 (UNI) Condemning the ''childish manner'' in which the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra handled the Malegoan blasts case, the BJP today said that its move to link Malegoan blast suspects with Samjhauta Express blasts may ultimately end up in India receiving egg on its face in the ongoing global campaign against terror.

BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad said the reports that the ATS had sought to link the use of RDX explosives in the Samjhauta blasts to many serving army officials including Lt Col Srikant Purohit arrested in connection with the Malegoan blasts were retracted the next day. India, he said, had even given the photograph of a Pakistani national to Pakistan at the Secretary level talks. There is one more meeting scheduled next week.

Pakistan's propoganda is that it was Indian Army which was 'terrorising' people of Jammu and Kashmir. When Maharashtra ATS suspects the role of Indian army in the Samjhauta blasts, one could not expect Pakistan to be serious about allegations made by India.

When India accused Pakistan's ISI involvement into the Indian embassy blast in Kabul, Pakistan Prime Minister did not accept ISI's involvement but only promised to hold his own investigations.

"Such being the case can we expect Pakistan to be serious in Samjhauta blasts case after the ATS flip flops", Mr Prasad said, adding that the BJP strongly condemned the weakening of India's case.

He said Congress was proclaiming that it never linked terrorism with Hindu religion but it is a matter of record that it was Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, who first coined the term 'Hindu terror' during the election campaign during Gujarat polls.

The BJP had strongly countered it at that time, he said.

Mr Prasad also touched upon the affidavit filed by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakore, one of the accused in the Melegoan blasts case, before the trial court in Nashik on how she was tortured by the ATS and subjected to narco-tests without her consent.

He said it was shameful how the woman prisoner was humiliated by the ATS officials while the Supreme Court order is clear that a woman investigator should be present during the interrogations. He said if the Sadhvi were to belong to minority religion, the attitudes of so called Human Rights organisations and the Congress party would not have been the same.

When asked if the BJP's stand would remain the same if the Sadhvi were to be from a minority religion, "Our stand would have been the same. We sought for an objective investigation if there were evidence against the suspects. There were subjected to probe and repeated narco tests and yet the police were groping in darkness. We are constrained to think that there are no evidences against the accused", Mr Prasad remarked.